Wednesday, February 19, 2014

I get asked this question all the time by my patients. "What type of hip replacement do you use?"

This is an important consideration. There are many companies that make implants for hip replacement surgery and each company has multiple product lines. It is alot like automobiles. You could get a Ford or a Honda (the company) and within each company you could get different models (like the Ford Taurus or the Honda Civic).

Each company has a historical track record and each model (as long as its been out for a few years) will have outcomes and performance data that could be used to make a decision on which one to choose.

Other considerations are patient specific. For example a young active patient might do better with an implant designed to last a long time while an older disabled patient might need an implant that provides maximum stability. Different implant designs may be optimally suited to different bone types and anatomical variations.

Just like there are Ford guys and Chevy guys, you will find surgeons who are Zimmer guys/girls, Stryker guys/girls, etc. There is a comfort level with the implants and instrumentation that is necessary in order to achieve optimal results that are consistent. It is not advisable to constantly change implant types.

The bottom line is that most surgeons use one implant design for the majority of patients and have others that they use as back-ups for atypical cases.

For the majority of my hip replacements I use the Zimmer Alloclassic® or Zimmer® M/L Taper Hip Stem. These stems both have excellent track records with almost 100% success rate in research studies. For information on the stems click on the links:

For the socket or cup, I usually use the Zimmer Continuum® Acetabular System. The cup is made with trabecular metal which achieves an excellent press-fit into the socket bone and has immediate stability. It also has an excellent track record.For more information, click on the links.

The last part of a hip replacement is the bearing surface. The bearing surface is referring to what parts are gliding on one another when the joint moves. There are a few options such as metal on poly, metal on metal, ceramic on poly, and ceramic on ceramic. The picture above shows a pink ceramic ball which is the Biolox® Delta Ceramic Femoral Head. This is a very strong, hard, and smooth design that achieves optimal longevity and durability.

Take a look at a golf pro try to break one with a driver. The driver gets dented and the head is fine!

I use the ceramic head with a Longevity® Highly Crosslinked Polyethylene Liner. Click on the link below for more details.

This combination is selected to achieve the best results for my patients as far as longevity, durability, and stability. I could go on and on about this and this may be too much information for most patients. If you have any questions please ask me.